Tag Posts: AJC

By Chris Joyner – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia’s anti-corruption laws got a D- in a report released Monday, but it was not the grade that caused the most controversy. Three years ago, the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, released a report grading every state on the strength of its laws against official corruption. That report ranked Georgia dead last and handed ethics watchdogs a cudgel to swing in their campaign for

Read full article at: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/dekalb-ceo-lee-may-makes-his-case-to-residents/npHpN/ William Perry, the executive director of Georgia Ethics Watchdog, said it’s hard to judge May because he ended the Bowers and Hyde investigation before they were finished. May ordered the investigators to produce a final report as its costs rose after five months of work, with no end in sight. “He made a very compelling case on every question he was asked,” said Perry, who attended all but one of May’s

Read the full story at: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/oxendines-found-money-extra-235000-in-campaign-acc/npHDb/ William Perry, who recently started Georgia Ethics Watchdogs after leading Georgia Common Cause for several years, said campaign reports lawmakers and candidates file are sometimes padded with “fluff.” “These reports are based on trust,” he said. “You don’t have to back them up with any documentation, you don’t have to show a bank statement. “The problem boils down to the fact that our commission, even with strong leadership and funding

Read the full story at: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/dekalb-corruption-report-was-wrong-about-ceos-hote/npCWp/ “I think he’s convincing a lot of people, when he’s there in person making his case,” said transparency advocate William Perry, who has attended four of the six forums so far. “I think he’s coming out with the people in the room stronger than he was going in.”

Read the full story at: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/09/16/georgia-has-a-new-unleashed-ethics-watchdog-group/ William Perry on Wednesday announced the launch of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs, which he said will “shine the light on public officials who cross the line” by filing complaints when state ethics laws are violated. Perry was forced out as head of the Georgia chapter of Common Cause last month, a move he said was triggered by the organization’s recent shift to a more muscular stance on policy issues. It came

Read the full story at: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/11/common-cause-of-georgias-head-to-start-new-watchdog-group/ “I’ve learned it’s really hard to be a government watchdog as well as a public policy advocate. And Common Cause, both nationally and in Georgia, is taking on new issues, they’re playing more of a role in expanding the public policy work they do. And I just think I’m not the right fit for that. I need to be somebody who wants to kick down doors and expose government corruption.